Should fans really be ready to root for Johnny Manziel again?

Years before he spoke about being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, before he married an Instagram model, before he made his comeback from the bench to a starting position in the CFL, before he apologized to his former teammates and former team, Johnny Manziel - according to a statement to Dallas police - grabbed his ex-girlfriend, Colleen Crowley by her hair and threw her against the car seat.

Or did we all forget that detail about the turbulent time that played a part in ending his first shot at professional football?

"I jumped out of the car and ran across the street and hid behind some bushes," she told police. "He flipped a U-turn and pulled right in to where I was hiding. He grabbed me by my hair and threw me back into the car."

Manziel has paid a price for his behavior - though there's no way to tell if the price was for what he did to Crowley or for what he did to the Browns. Sure, he would have served a suspension if someone did give him another job in the NFL - but teams have been willing to look past that issue for other players.

And, of course, he didn't make it to the CFL right away either - a message that seems to have been taken seriously by the quarterback who once took college football by storm and amused us all with his brash antics.

Manziel seems to have made a sincere effort to improve as a person: He's been open about his mental health and worked to manage it, he seems to have humbly accepted his job as a backup in a league that isn't the NFL and he looks physically like he's been working to get and stay in proper fitness for the game.

And he's shown the side of him that made him so popular again: He's incredibly engaging on podcasts where he's appeared as a guest. He's quick to admit that he wronged former teammates, like Joe Thomas, by potentially hampering their careers. He even seems to get that his word doesn't really mean that much.

"I can talk 'til I'm blue in the face about how I'm a different person but … until I get into [an NFL] building and I'm able to show that, it's all just talk," he said earlier this year. "It's all just me saying that I'm different."

Should we just file it away as one of the many mistakes we're willing to let go for a chance at a good redemption story or the chance to see a guy we once thought could help the Browns shine again? Or should we maybe re-read the Crowley's affidavit and wonder if that's really a jersey football fans should be buying?